The IDF carried out airstrikes on two Syrian military positions Monday evening, targeting artillery batteries in response to a projectile that landed in Israeli territory the same evening. It is the second such incident since the Russian-US brokered ceasefire which went into effect on Monday.

Following the incident, the Syrian army claimed that it had downed an Israeli jet and drone early Tuesday morning, the IDF officially denying the reports. The General Command of the Syrian army claimed Tuesday morning that “Our air defenses blocked the attack and shot down the military aircraft in the southern province of Quneitra and a drone west of Sa’sa” in the province of Damascus.”

SANA, the Syrian news agency controlled by Assad’s Regime, reported that “Syrian air defense forces responded to the attack and shot down an Israeli warplane to the southwest of Quneitra and an Israeli drone to the west of [the] Sa’sa town in the southwestern countryside of Damascus,” claiming that the “Israeli attack came in support of the armed terrorist groups and in a desperate attempt to raise the deteriorating morale of their members due to the heavy losses they have suffered in Quneitra.”

The IDF responded shortly after, a rare occurrence as the IDF does not typically respond or comment on operations in Syria, majority of which are covert. It stated Tuesday morning “Two surface-to-air missiles were fired from Syria overnight after an IDF strike in response to weapons fire [from Syria] last night. Israeli aircraft were not close to the source of the fire, and the missiles never threatened their targets… At no point was the safety of IDF aircraft compromised,” the IDF confirming that the aircraft returned to base in Israel.